{"id":206412,"date":"2025-10-12T01:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T01:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/206412\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T01:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T01:38:09","slug":"diane-keaton-famed-for-roles-in-father-of-the-bride-first-wives-club-and-more-dies-at-79-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/206412\/","title":{"rendered":"Diane Keaton, Famed for Roles in\u201c Father of the Bride\u201d, \u201cFirst Wives Club\u201d and More, Dies at 79 (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

Diane Keaton has died at age 79, PEOPLE can confirm<\/p>\n

The Oscar-winning actress was best known for roles in movies like Annie Hall, The First Wives Club, Something’s Gotta Give and The Godfather<\/p>\n

Keaton is survived by her two children, daughter Dexter and son Duke<\/p>\n

Diane Keaton<\/a> has died. She was 79.<\/p>\n

PEOPLE can confirm the legendary actress died in California on Saturday, Oct. 11. “There are no further details available at this time, and her family has asked for privacy in this moment of great sadness,” a spokesperson tells PEOPLE.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) confirms to PEOPLE that they responded to Keaton’s home at 8:08 a.m. local time and transported a 79-year-old woman to a local hospital.<\/p>\n

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Rodin Eckenroth\/WireImage<\/p>\n

Diane Keaton in 2019.<\/p>\n

Keaton rose to fame in the 1970s thanks to her role in The Godfather<\/a> films and her collaborations with director Woody Allen<\/a>. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for 1977\u2019s Annie Hall. Her long career included movies like The First Wives Club, multiple collaborations with director Nancy Meyers<\/a> and the Book Club franchise.<\/p>\n

The actress was born in Los Angeles in 1946 as Diane Hall, and was the oldest of four children. Her father was a civil engineer, while her mom stayed at home.<\/p>\n

Still, Keaton thought her mother dreamed of something bigger. “Secretly in her heart of hearts she probably wanted to be an entertainer of some kind,” the actress told PEOPLE in 2004. “She sang. She played the piano. She was beautiful. She was my advocate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stein\/Mediapunch\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Stein\/Mediapunch\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Diane Keaton in 1971<\/p>\n

Keaton performed in plays in high school, and after graduating in 1964, she pursued drama in college. But she soon dropped out and moved to New York to try to make her way in theater. She took her mother\u2019s maiden name, Keaton, for her professional name, because there was already a Diane Hall registered with Actors’ Equity.<\/p>\n

In 1968, Keaton was cast in Broadway\u2019s Hair as the understudy for Sheila. In 2017, Keaton told PEOPLE<\/a> that she struggled with bulimia during this time after the director of the show told her she needed to lose weight, though she didn\u2019t blame him for her illness. \u201cBelieve me, it had to do with an overabundant need for more. Too much. It was a mental illness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI became a master at hiding. Hiding any evidence \u2014 how do you make sure no one knows? You live a lifestyle that is very strange. You\u2019re living a lie,\u201d she explained about her illness. She eventually recovered thanks to therapy, but said bulimia also robbed her of the ability to enjoy her time on Broadway.<\/p>\n

Next, Keaton starred in Allen\u2019s Broadway show Play It Again, Sam, which premiered in 1969. She received a Tony nomination for the role.<\/p>\n

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Pierre Manevy\/Daily Express\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in 1970<\/p>\n

Her film debut was in 1970\u2019s Lovers and Other Strangers, but her big break came when Francis Ford Coppola cast her as Kay Adams, the girlfriend of Al Pacino\u2019s <\/a>Michael Corleone, in The Godfather, released in 1972. The movie was based on the novel by Mario Puzo but Keaton didn\u2019t read the bestseller before her audition and didn\u2019t really know what the film was about.<\/p>\n

“I think the kindest thing that someone’s ever done for me … is that I got cast to be in The Godfather and I didn’t even read it. I didn’t know a single thing,” she told PEOPLE<\/a> in 2022. “I just was going around auditioning. I think that was amazing for me. And then I had to kind of read the book.”<\/p>\n

The film was a massive success and won Best Picture at the Oscars. Keaton reprised her role in 1974\u2019s The Godfather Part II, which was also a triumph and won Best Picture. She returned for 1990\u2019s The Godfather Part III, the last film.<\/p>\n

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CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Diane Keaton in ‘The Godfather,’ which was released in 1972<\/p>\n

Keaton also continued to collaborate with Allen, appearing in the film version of Play It Again, Sam, released in 1972, 1973\u2019s Sleeper and 1975\u2019s Love and Death. Despite her early success, Keaton\u2019s insecurities still plagued her, and she would never watch her own films. “I just don’t like the way I look and sound,” she told PEOPLE in 1975.<\/p>\n

In 1977, Keaton starred in Allen\u2019s Annie Hall as the title character. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for the role. Annie\u2019s wardrobe mimicked Keaton\u2019s own, full of menswear, vests, and structured trousers, and the film cemented the actress\u2019s place as a style icon.<\/p>\n

Many speculated that the movie was based on Keaton and Allen\u2019s relationship. She told The New York Times<\/a> in 1977, \u201cIt’s not true, but there are elements of truth in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keaton would collaborate with Allen again in 1978\u2019s Interiors, 1979\u2019s Manhattan and 1993\u2019s Manhattan Murder Mystery. She also defended Allen in the wake of sexual abuse allegations from his stepdaughter Dylan Farrow<\/a>. \u201cI love him,\u201d she told The Guardian<\/a> in 2014.<\/p>\n

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Bettmann Archive<\/p>\n

Diane Keaton and Woody Allen in ‘Annie Hall’<\/p>\n

Keaton\u2019s other film roles included 1977\u2019s Looking for Mr. Goodbar, 1981\u2019s Reds, 1982\u2019s\u00a0Shoot the Moon and 1984\u2019s The Little Drummer Girl. She worked with Meyers for the first time on 1987\u2019s Baby Boom. They would reunite three more times: in 1991\u2019s Father of the Bride, 1995\u2019s Father of the Bride Part II and 2003\u2019s Something\u2019s Gotta Give, which garnered another Oscar nom for Keaton. Asked which of these projects she loved the most, Keaton told Vulture<\/a> in 2020, \u201cHonestly, you can think it\u2019s sappy, but I love the Father of the Bride movies. They were so touching.”<\/p>\n

Keaton starred with Goldie Hawn<\/a> and Bette Midler<\/a> in 1996\u2019s The First Wives Club, about three women whose husbands had left them for younger women. The comedy famously ended with all three singing Lesley Gore\u2019s \u201cYou Don\u2019t Own Me.\u201d Keaton told The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> in 2023 that she was \u201calways kind of anxious and a little worried\u201d while filming it because Hawn and Midler were \u201creally amazing actresses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Moviestore\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Moviestore\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Steve Martin and Diane Keaton in ‘Father of the Bride’<\/p>\n

Later roles for Keaton included The Family Stone, Because I Said So, Finding Dory, Book Club (and its sequel) and Poms. She made a rare TV appearance with a starring role in HBO\u2019s 2016 miniseries The Young Pope. Keaton also worked as a director, helming the 1987 documentary Heaven, 2000\u2019s Hanging Up and an episode of Twin Peaks.<\/p>\n

In 2021 Keaton starred in Justin Bieber\u2019s music video \u201cGhost.\u201d<\/a> She also was a prolific Instagram<\/a> user, posting updates on her life, reflections on her career and friendships and praising those she loved.<\/p>\n

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!<\/a><\/p>\n

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Sonia Moskowitz\/IMAGES\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton in 1978.<\/p>\n

Looking back on her career, Keaton told PEOPLE in 2019<\/a>, “I don’t know anything, and I haven’t learned. Getting older hasn’t made me wiser. Without acting I would have been a misfit.”<\/p>\n

Keaton never married. \u201cToday I was thinking, I’m the only one in my generation of actresses who has been a single woman all her life,\u201d she explained to PEOPLE in 2019. \u201cI’m really glad I didn’t get married. I’m an oddball. I remember in high school, this guy came up to me and said, \u2018One day you’re going to make a good wife.\u2019 And I thought, \u2018I don’t want to be a wife. No.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Amy Sussman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Diane Keaton in 2022.<\/p>\n

She was romantically linked to Allen, Pacino and Warren Beatty over the years. “Talent is so damn attractive,” she noted to PEOPLE.<\/p>\n

Keaton had two children, daughter Dexter and son Duke<\/a>, whom she adopted in 1996 and 2001, respectively. “Motherhood was not an urge I couldn’t resist, it was more like a thought I’d been thinking for a very long time. So I plunged in,\u201d she told Ladies’ Home Journal in 2008.<\/p>\n

Keaton is survived by her children.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n